15 Weird Baby Facts You That Will Shock You

#1 Babies conveniently forget all of the horror they put you through, and how weird they've been

Babies forget the majority of the first three years of their life. Neuroscientists call this "infantile amnesia" and have several theories about why this occurs, but we can all agree that regardless of why it happens, the result is that all of us adults are blissfully unaware of the completely bizarre things we did when we first entered this world, and the effect it had on others.

#2 Babies have superhuman strength

You may know that newborns have the reflex to grab onto things with their hands, but what you probably didn't know is that their grasp is strong enough to hold their ENTIRE BODY UP. Picture an Olympic gymnast on the rings, but a newborn.

#3 The soft spot on a baby's head bulges and pulsates

The soft spot on a baby's head is called the fontanelle, and before the skull is fully grown in that spot it isn't just a squishy, sensitive area. It's also a creepy bulging crevice of doom if you look close enough.

#4 Babies can breathe and swallow at the same time

Up until seven months of age a baby is able to swallow and breathe simultaneously.

#5 Newborns don't actually cry tears

When you hear a newborn crying, they're actually just screaming. It isn't until the third week of their life (or sometimes longer) that they start to produce tears when they're crying.

#6 The likelihood of having twins varies around the globe

In Nigeria, odds of having twins are 22-1. The West-African region is particularly prone to twins. In Japan, however, the odds are 200-1.

#7 Baby poop is the perfect consistency to create the most amount of mess

Newborns may look cute, but the texture of their, ahem, production is the perfect storm of explosive feces. TheBump.com's Dr. Levine says, "Newborn poop is mostly liquid with some mustard-seed texture mixed in. As a result, it doesn't take much power to propel it across a room." Coincidence? I think not.

#8 Babies don't have bony kneecaps

They just have a structure of cartilage that forms something like it, but the real kneecap doesn't develop until a few years into life. Other parts of the baby's skeletal system develop similarly. The older we get, the more those bones that begin as cartilage lose their "bounce," and falling becomes a lot more painful and a lot less nonchalant. Before that, we're basically miniature invincible cartilage demons.

#9 Baby boys get erections...both inside the womb and when they're born

Baby boys get erections while they're in utero, and very commonly have one when they're born.

#10 Babies sleep with their eyes open

As if newborns weren't hard enough to take care of, when they finally fall asleep it's very common for babies' eyes to stay open (and roll around in the sockets).

#11 Babies prefer female voices, and subconsciously adults adapt

This phenomenon is sometimes called "Motherese."

#12 Babies born in May weigh more

As if by some creepy medieval magic, babies born in the month of May weigh an average of 200 grams more than other months.

#13 Babies' eyes are 75% their adult size when they're born

Now you won't be able to unsee the fact that baby eyeballs are gigantic compared to their heads

#14 Girl babies get their period, and all babies have boobs and lactate

When babies are in the womb, they absorb their mom's hormones, so after they're born they've got some estrogen to sort through. That means that female babies shed their uterine lining, having a mini period, and all babies lactate a bit. Sometimes blood comes out of their nipples too (in case you wanted to cringe even more about this whole ordeal).

#15 They eventually fade with age

When you were born you had tastebuds on the roof, back, and sides of your mouth in addition to your tongue

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